View source for Sir Edward Dering, 1st Baronet

{{Short description|English politician}}

[[File:Sir Edward Dering (1598–1644), 1st Baronet by William Dobson.jpeg|thumb|right|240px|Sir Edward Dering by [[William Dobson]]]]
'''Sir Edward Dering, 1st Baronet''' (1598–1644) of Surrenden Dering, [[Pluckley]], Kent, was an English [[antiquary]] and [[politician]].

==Ancestry and childhood==
Dering was the eldest son of Sir Anthony Dering (d. 1636) of Surrenden Dering. His mother, Sir Anthony's second wife, was Frances, daughter of Chief Baron [[Sir Robert Bell|Robert Bell]]. 

He was born in the [[Tower of London]] on 28 January 1598, his father being the deputy-lieutenant. He was educated at [[Magdalene College, Cambridge]].<ref>{{acad|DRN615E|Sir Edward Dering}}</ref>

==Early career==
After leaving the university he devoted himself to antiquarian studies and to the collection of manuscripts. On 22 January 1619 he was knighted at [[Newmarket, Suffolk|Newmarket]], and in November of the same year married Elizabeth, daughter of [[Nicholas Tufton, 1st Earl of Thanet|Sir Nicholas Tufton]]. She died on 24 January 1622. According to an entry in his account book, he purchased two copies of William Shakespeare's [[First Folio]] on 5 December 1623: this is the earliest recorded retail purchase of this famous book.<ref>'''''Sotheby's''''', ''The SHAKESPEARE FIRST FOLIO, 1623: The Dr. Williams's Library Copy'', 13 July 2006; "Three Issues" p. 26; auction catalogue research by Peter Selley and Dr. Peter Beal.</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Connelly |first1=Charlie |title=Shakespeare conquered the world elsewhere The first recorded purchase of Shakespeare’s collected works came 400 years ago – and the compendium soon crossed into Europe |url=https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/shakespeare-conquered-the-world-elsewhere/ |website=New European |access-date=24 November 2023}}</ref>

Dering subsequently married Anne, daughter of Sir John Ashburnham. [[Elizabeth Richardson, 1st Lady Cramond|Lady Ashburnham]], his new mother-in-law, being of the Beaumont family, was a connection of the king's [[favourite]], [[George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham|Buckingham]]. Through her, Dering strove for court favour and was created a [[baronet]] on 1 February 1626 (1627 [[Old Style and New Style dates|New Style]]). Buckingham's assassination in 1628 cut short Dering's ambitions at court. He lost his second wife in the same year that he lost his patron.<ref name="DNB">{{DNB Cite|wstitle=Dering, Edward (1598-1644)|volume=14}}</ref>
[[Image:1stBaronetDering.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Sir Edward Dering]]
On 20 November in the year of his wife's death, Dering became one of the many suitors of a rich city widow, Mrs Bennett, and kept a curious journal of his efforts to win her, especially of the bribes which he administered to the lady's servants. Mrs Bennett, however, married [[Heneage Finch (speaker)|Sir Heneage Finch]] on 16 April 1629, and shortly afterwards Dering married his third wife, Unton, daughter of Sir Ralph Gibbs, his 'ever dear Numps', as he calls her in the letters which he addressed to her.<ref name="DNB"/> He had lately been appointed lieutenant of [[Dover Castle]],<ref name="miscell">{{Cite web|url=http://www.the-miscellany.co.uk/jacobean/person?id=824|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110108152300/http://the-miscellany.co.uk/jacobean/person?id=824|url-status=dead|title=Person - The Miscellany<!-- Bot generated title -->|archivedate=8 January 2011}}</ref> an office for which he paid the late holder of the post, and which brought him in much less than he expected. When he, at last, managed to be quit of it, he was able to devote himself more freely to the antiquarian pursuits at which he was most at home.<ref name="DNB" />

==Religious belief and controversy==
Antiquarian studies could, in the days of [[William Laud]]'s power, hardly fail to connect themselves with reflections on the existing state of the church. Dering was one of a numerous class which was distinctly [[protestant]] without being [[puritan]].

Since his father's death in 1636 he was the owner of the family property (the house and park of Surrenden Dering, now known as Surrenden House), and a person of consequence in Kent. Sir Edward served as [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Hythe (UK Parliament constituency)|Hythe]] in 1629. He was chosen to represent [[Kent (UK Parliament constituency)|Kent]] in the [[Long Parliament]].

He took an active part in all measures of church reform, and became chairman of the committee on religion. On 13 January 1641, having had a petition from 2500 of his constituents sent to him for presentation, in which they complained about the government of archbishops, etc. and which asked the House of Commons 'that the said government, with all its dependencies, root and branch, may be abolished', he altered the petition and made it ask 'that this hierarchical power may be totally abrogated', so as to avoid committing himself to an approval of divine-right presbyterianism. During [[Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford|Strafford]]'s trial he took the popular side, "and wrote to his wife how he heard people say 'God bless your worship'" as he passed.<ref name="DNB" />

On 27 May Dering moved the first reading of the [[Root and Branch Bill]], which is said to have been drawn up by [[Oliver St John]], apparently not because he thoroughly sympathised with its prayer, but because he thought its introduction would terrify the lords into passing a bill for the exclusion of bishops from their seats in parliament which was then before them: <blockquote>... the chief end then was to expedite the progress of another bill against the secular jurisdiction of the bishops (at that time) labouring in the House of Lords... I did not dream... at that time of extirpation and abolition of any more than his achiepiscopacy: our professed rooters themselves (many of them) at that hour had, I persuade myself, more moderate hopes than since are entertained.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The English People and the English Revolution|last=Manning|first=Brian|publisher=Penguin Books|year=1978|isbn=0140551379|location=Great Britain|pages=[https://archive.org/details/englishpeopleeng00mann/page/60 60]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/englishpeopleeng00mann/page/60}}</ref></blockquote>Dering's real sentiments were disclosed when the bill was in committee, when he argued in defence of primitive [[Episcopal polity|episcopacy]], that is to say, of a plan for ensuring that bishops should do nothing without the concurrence of their clergy. It was a plan which appealed strongly to students of antiquity; but it is no wonder that he was now treated by the more thoroughgoing opponents of episcopacy as a man who could no longer be trusted.<ref name="DNB" />

In the debate on 12 October on the second [[Clergy Act 1640|Bishops Exclusion Bill]], Dering proposed that a national synod should be called to remove the distractions of the church. In the discussion on the [[Grand Remonstrance]], he assailed the doctrine that bishops had brought popery and idolatry into the church, and he subsequently defended the retention of bishops on the ground that, if the prizes of the lottery were taken away, few would care to acquire learning. By his final vote on the Grand Remonstrance, he threw in his lot with the episcopal royalist party. It was the vote, not of a statesman, but of a student, anxious to find some middle term between the rule of Laud and the rule of a Scottish presbytery, and attacking the party which at any moment seemed likely to acquire undue predominance. He was alarmed by the democratic nature of the Remonstrance: "I did not dream"  he remarked "that we would remonstrate downwards, tell stories to the People,  and speak of the King as a third person".<ref name="DNB" />

Dering began to overestimate the amount of consistency which lies at the bottom of almost all changes of opinion honestly made. He prepared for publication an edition of his speeches with explanatory comments of his own. On 4 February the House of Commons ordered the book to be burnt and himself to be sent to the Tower. He remained a prisoner till the 11th.<ref name="DNB" />

Dering's imprisonment probably threw him more decidedly on the king's side than he had intended. On 25 March he took a leading part in the [[Maidstone]] assizes in getting up a petition from the grand jury in favour of episcopacy and the prayer book. On this, he was impeached by the commons, but he contrived to escape.

==English Civil War==
At the opening of the [[English Civil War|civil war]], Dering raised a regiment of cavalry for the king.<ref name="DNB" />

Dering was even less a soldier than he was a statesman. He was in bad health, and the talk of the camp probably disgusted him. Even before the [[battle of Edgehill]] he inquired on what terms he might be allowed to submit to parliament. Nothing came of the negotiation, but before the opening of the campaign of 1643 he threw up his commission. It is said that he asked the king in vain to give him the deanery of [[Canterbury Cathedral|Canterbury]]. Every month that passed must have made his position at Oxford more painful. Not only had primitive episcopacy vanished, but [[Charles I of England|Charles]] in September made a cessation with the confederate Catholics of [[Ireland]], and negotiations were subsequently opened with the object of bringing Irish catholic soldiers into England.

On 30 January 1644 parliament issued a declaration offering pardon to those who had taken up arms against them if they would take the covenant and pay a composition for the restoration of their sequestered estates. Dering was the first to accept the terms, and he had leave to go home. The composition was settled at £1,000 on 27 July; but Dering, who had been kept out of his property till his payment had been arranged, was already beyond parliamentary jurisdiction. He died on 22 June 1644, having suffered much from poverty after his return.

Dering's position at the end of his life may be best illustrated by a ''Discourse on Sacrifice'', which was published by him in June 1644, though it was written in the summer of 1640. In issuing it to the world he declares that he wishes for peace and for the return of the king to his parliament. "In the meantime," he adds, "I dare wish that he would make less value of such men both lay and clergy who, by running on the Canterbury pace, have made our breaches so wide and take less delight in the specious way of cathedral devotions". These words exhibit Dering as a fair representative of that important part of the nation which set itself against extreme courses, though it was unable to embody its desires in any practically working scheme.<ref name="DNB" />

==Antiquarian studies==
Dering's antiquarian interests led him to amass a great library; his name is still associated with:
:the '''[[Dering Roll]]''', an important 13th century [[Roll of arms]], believed to be the earliest surviving English roll of arms. In 2008, the Roll was purchased by the [[British Library]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7595959.stm|title=Medieval manuscript stays in UK|date=3 September 2008|via=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>
:'''[[The Dering Manuscript]]''' of ''[[Henry IV, Part 1]]'', the earliest surviving manuscript of a play by [[William Shakespeare]].

He concocted an ancient Saxon pedigree for himself, inserting details into various authentic documents and installing fake monuments in the church.<ref>Wagner, Sir Anthony Richard (1960): ''English Genealogy''. Oxford: Clarendon Press.</ref>

==Personal life and descendants==
[[File:Surrenden House.png|thumb|Surrenden Dering house, c.1820]]
Sir Edward was married three times:<ref>Haslewood, Rev. Francis (1876): ''Genealogical Memoranda relating to the Family of Dering of Surrenden-Dering in the parish of Pluckley, Kent''. London.</ref>

#On 25 November 1619 at [[St Dionis Backchurch]], London (since demolished), to '''Elizabeth Tufton''' (1602/3-1622/3), eldest daughter of Nicholas Tufton, later 1st [[Earl of Thanet]], by Lady Frances Cecil, daughter of [[Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter]]. Their only child, Anthony, died September 1634, aged 14.
#During January 1625,<ref name="miscell" /> to '''Anne Ashburnham''' (c. 1605–1628), third daughter of Sir John Ashburnham of [[Ashburnham Place|Ashburnham]], [[Sussex]], by [[Elizabeth Richardson, 1st Lady Cramond|Elizabeth]] (later created [[Lord Cramond|Lady Cramond]]), daughter of Sir Thomas Beaumont of Stoughton Grange, [[Leicestershire]]. Anne was the mother of [[Sir Edward Dering, 2nd Baronet]]; she died aged 23 and was buried on 17 April 1628.
#On 16 July 1629, at St Dionis Backchurch, to '''Unton Gibbes''' (died 1676), daughter of Sir Ralph Gibbes, 1st Baronet of Honington, [[Warwickshire]], by Gertrude, daughter of Sir Thomas Wroughton of [[Wiltshire]]. They had further issue.

He was buried at St Nicholas' Church, Pluckley.

==Published works==
Dering's published works are:<ref name="DNB" />
#''The Four Cardinal Virtues of a Carmelite Friar'', 1641.
#''Four Speeches made by Sir E. Dering'', 1641 (the pamphlet thus headed contains only three speeches, the fourth being published separately).
#''A most worthy Speech ... concerning the Liturgy'', 1642.
#''A Collection of Speeches made by Sir E. Dering on Matters of Religion'', 1642.
#''A Declaration by Sir E. Dering'', 1644
#''A Discourse of proper Sacrifice'', 1644

==References==
{{Reflist}}
;Attribution
*{{DNB|wstitle=Dering, Edward (1598-1644)|volume=14}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Sir Edward Dering, 1st Baronet}}
*{{UK National Archives ID}}
*Laetitia Yeandle, ''Sir Edward Dering, 1st bart., of Surrenden Dering and his 'Booke of Expences' 1617-1628''; [http://www.kentarchaeology.ac/authors/lyeandle.html auth01]
* {{cite book |last1=Hutchinson |first1=John |title=Men of Kent and Kentishmen |date=1892 |publisher=Cross & Jackman |location=Canterbury |pages=38–39 |edition=Subscription |chapter=[[s:Men of Kent and Kentishmen/Sir Edward Dering|Sir Edward Dering]]}}

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{{succession box 
| title=[[Member of Parliament]] for [[Kent (UK Parliament constituency)|Kent]] 
| before= [[Sir Norton Knatchbull, 1st Baronet|Sir Norton Knatchbull, Bt]] <br /> [[Roger Twysden|Sir Roger Twysden, Bt]]
| with=[[John Colepeper, 1st Baron Colepeper|Sir John Colepeper]] 
| years=1640–1642
| after= [[John Colepeper, 1st Baron Colepeper|Sir John Colepeper]] <br /> [[Augustine Skinner]]
}} 
{{s-reg|en-bt }}
{{succession box | title=[[Dering baronets|Baronet]]<br />'''(of Surrenden Dering)''' | years=1627–1644 | before=''new creation''|  after=[[Sir Edward Dering, 2nd Baronet|Edward Dering]]}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dering, Edward}}
[[Category:1598 births]]
[[Category:1644 deaths]]
[[Category:17th-century English antiquarians]]
[[Category:Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Dering baronets]]
[[Category:Cavaliers]]
[[Category:English MPs 1625]]
[[Category:English MPs 1640–1648]]
[[Category:People from Pluckley]]